Public Law 104-208 (1997 Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations)

Omnibus
Consolidated
Appropriations
Act, 1997.

PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996

110 STAT. 3009

*Public Law 104–208
104th Congress
An Act
Making omnibus consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September
30, 1997, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
***

*Note: This is a typeset print of the original hand enrollment as signed by the President on
September 30, 1996. The text is printed without corrections. Missing text in the original is
indicated by a footnote.

110 STAT. 3009–389

Federal Financial
Management
Improvement Act
of 1996.
31 USC 3512
note.
31 USC 3512
note.

PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996

TITLE VIII—FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
IMPROVEMENT
SEC. 801. SHORT TITLE

This title may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Financial Management
Improvement Act of 1996.’’
SEC. 802. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Much effort has been devoted to strengthening Federal
internal accounting controls in the past. Although progress
has been made in recent years, Federal accounting standards
have not been uniformly implemented in financial management
systems for agencies.
(2) Federal financial management continues to be seriously
deficient, and Federal financial management and fiscal practices have failed to—
(A) identify costs fully;
(B) reflect the total liabilities of congressional actions;
and
(C) accurately report the financial condition of the
Federal Government.
(3) Current Federal accounting practices do not accurately
report financial results of the Federal Government or the full
costs of programs and activities. The continued use of these
practices undermines the Government’s ability to provide credible and reliable financial data and encourages already widespread Government waste, and will not assist in achieving
a balanced budget.
(4) Waste and inefficiency in the Federal Government
undermine the confidence of the American people in the government and reduce the federal Government’s ability to address
vital public needs adequately.
(5) To rebuild the accountability and credibility of the Federal Government, and restore public confidence in the Federal

PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996

110 STAT. 3009–390

Government, agencies must incorporate accounting standards
and reporting objectives established for the Federal Government into their financial management systems so that all the
assets and liabilities, revenues, and expenditures or expenses,
and the full costs of programs and activities of the Federal
Government can be consistently and accurately recorded, monitored, and uniformly reported throughout the Federal Government.
(6) Since its establishment in October 1990, the Federal
Accounting Standards Advisory Board (hereinafter referred to
as the ‘‘FASAB’’) has made substantial progress toward developing and recommending a comprehensive set of accounting concepts and standards for the Federal Government. When the
accounting concepts and standards developed by FASAB are
incorporated into Federal financial management systems, agencies will be able to provide cost and financial information that
will assist the Congress and financial managers to evaluate
the cost and performance of Federal programs and activities,
and will therefore provide important information that has been
lacking, but is needed for improved decision making by financial
managers and the Congress.
(7) The development of financial management systems with
the capacity to support these standards and concepts will, over
the long term, improve Federal financial management.
(b) PURPOSE—The purposes of this Act are to—
(1) provide for consistency of accounting by an agency from
one fiscal year to the next, and uniform accounting standards
throughout the Federal Government;
(2) require Federal financial management systems to support full disclosure of Federal financial data, including the
full costs of Federal programs and activities, to the citizens,
the Congress, the President, and agency management, so that
programs and activities can be considered based on their full
costs and merits;
(3) increase the accountability and credibility of federal
financial management;
(4) improve performance, productivity and efficiency of Federal Government financial management;
(5) establish financial management systems to support
controlling the cost of Federal Government;
(6) build upon and complement the Chief Financial Officers
Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–576; 104 Stat 2838), the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Public Law 103–
62 107 Stat. 285) and the Government Management Reform
Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–356; 108 Stat. 3410); and
(7) increase the capability of agencies to monitor execution
of the budget by more readily permitting reports that compare
spending of resources to results of activities.
SEC. 803. IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
IMPROVEMENTS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall implement and maintain
financial management systems that comply substantially with Federal financial management systems requirements, applicable Federal accounting standards, and the United States Government
Standard General Ledger at the transaction level.
(b) AUDIT COMPLIANCE FINDING.—

31 USC 3512
note.

110 STAT. 3009–391

PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996

(1) IN GENERAL.—Each audit required by section 3521(e)
of title 31, United States Code, shall report whether the agency
financial management systems comply with the requirements
of subsection (a).
(2) CONTENT OF REPORTS.—When the person performing
the audit required by section 3521(e) of title 31, United States
Code, reports that the agency financial management systems
do not comply with the requirements of subsection (a), the
person performing the audit shall include in the report on
the audit—
(A) the entity or organization responsible for the financial management systems that have been found not to
comply with the requirements of subsection (a);
(B) all facts pertaining to the failure to comply with
the requirements of subsection (a), including—
(i) the nature and extent of the noncompliance
including areas in which there is substantial but not
full compliance;
(ii) the primary reason or cause of the noncompliance;
(iii) the entity or organization responsible for the
non-compliance; and
(iv) any relevant comments from any responsible
officer or employee; and
(C) a statement with respect to the recommended
remedial actions and the time frames to implement such
actions.
(c) COMPLIANCE IMPLEMENTATION.—
(1) DETERMINATION.—No later than the date described
under paragraph (2), the Head of an agency shall determine
whether the financial management systems of the agency comply with the requirements of subsection (a). Such determination
shall be based on—
(A) a review of the report on the applicable agencywide audited financial statement;
(B) any other information the Head of the agency
considers relevant and appropriate.
(2) DATE OF DETERMINATION.—The determination under
paragraph (1) shall be made no later than 120 days after
the earlier of—
(A) the date of the receipt of an agency-wide audited
financial statement; or
(B) the last day of the fiscal year following the year
covered by such statement.
(3) REMEDIATION PLAN.—
(A) If the Head of an agency determines that the
agency’s financial management systems do not comply with
the requirements of subsection (a), the head of the agency,
in consultation with the Director, shall establish a remediation plan that shall include resources, remedies, and intermediate target dates necessary to bring the agency’s financial management systems into substantial compliance.
(B) If the determination of the head of the agency
differs from the audit compliance findings required in subsection (b), the Director shall review such determinations
and provide a report on the findings to the appropriate
committees of the Congress.

PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996

110 STAT. 3009–392

(4) TIME PERIOD FOR COMPLIANCE.—A remediation plan
shall bring the agency’s financial management systems into
substantial compliance no later than 3 years after the date
a determination is made under paragraph (1), unless the
agency, with concurrence of the Director—
(A) determines that the agency’s financial management
systems cannot comply with the requirements of subsection
(a) within 3 years;
(B) specifies the most feasible date for bringing the
agency’s financial management systems into compliance
with the requirements of subsection (a); and
(C) designates an official of the agency who shall be
responsible for bringing the agency’s financial management
systems into compliance with the requirements of subsection (a) by the date specified under subparagraph (B).
SEC. 804. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

(a) REPORTS BY THE DIRECTOR.—No later than March 31 of
each year, the Director shall submit a report to the Congress
regarding implementation of this Act. The Director may include
the report in the financial management status report and the 5year financial management plan submitted under section 3512(a)(1)
of title 31, United States Code.
(b) REPORTS BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL—Each Inspector General who prepares a report under section 5(a) of the Inspector
General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall report to Congress instances and reasons when an agency has not met the intermediate
target dates established in the remediation plan required under
section 3(c). Specifically the report shall include—
(1) the entity or organization responsible for the noncompliance;
(2) the facts pertaining to the failure to comply with the
requirements of subsection (a), including the nature and extent
of the non-compliance, the primary reason or cause for the
failure to comply, and any extenuating circumstances; and
(3) a statement of the remedial actions needed to comply.
(c) REPORTS BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—No later than
October 1, 1997, and October 1, of each year thereafter, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall report to the appropriate committees of the Congress concerning—
(1) compliance with the requirements of section 3(a) of
this Act, including whether the financial statements of the
Federal Government have been prepared in accordance with
applicable accounting standards; and
(2) the adequacy of applicable accounting standards for
the Federal Government.
SEC. 805. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

(a) AUDITS BY AGENCIES.—Section 3521(f)(1) of title 31, United
States Code, is amended in the first sentence by inserting ‘‘and
the Controller of the Office of Federal Financial Management’’
before the period.
(b) FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT STATUS REPORT.—Section
3512(a)(2) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by—
(1) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘and’ after the semicolon;
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph
(F); and

31 USC 3512
note.

31 USC 3512
note.

110 STAT. 3009–393

5 USC app.

PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996

(3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:
‘‘(E) a listing of agencies whose financial management
systems do not comply substantially with the requirements
of Section 3(a) the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996, and a summary statement of the efforts
underway to remedy the noncompliance; and’’
(c) INSPECTOR GENERAL ACT OF 1978.—Section 5(a) of the
Inspector General Act of 1978 is amended—
(1) in paragraph (11) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (12) by striking the period and inserting
‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(13) the information described under section 05(b) of the
Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996.’’

31 USC 3512
note.

SEC. 806. DEFINITIONS.

31 USC 3512
note.

SEC. 807. EFFECTIVE DATE.

For purposes of this title:
(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means a department or
agency of the United States Government as defined in section
901(b) of title 31, United States Code.
(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget.
(3) FEDERAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘Federal
accounting standards’’ means applicable accounting principles,
standards, and requirements consistent with section
902(a)(3)(A) of title 31, United States Code.
(4) FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.—The term ‘‘financial
management systems’’ includes the financial systems and the
financial portions of mixed systems necessary to support financial management, including automated and manual processes,
procedures, controls, data, hardware, software, and support
personnel dedicated to the operation and maintenance of system
functions.
(5) FINANCIAL SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘financial system’’
includes an information system, comprised of one or more
applications, that is used for—
(A) collecting, processing, maintaining, transmitting,
or reporting data about financial events;
(B) supporting financial planning or budgeting activities;
(C) accumulating and reporting costs information; or
(D) supporting the preparation of financial statements.
(6) MIXED SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘mixed system’ means
an information system that supports both financial and
nonfinancial functions of the Federal Government or components thereof.
This title shall take effect for the fiscal year ending September
30, 1997.
SEC. 808. REVISION OF SHORT TITLES.—

(a) Section 4001 of Public Law 104–106 (110 Stat. 642; 41
U.S.C. 251 note) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 4001. SHORT TITLE.

‘‘This division and division E may be cited as the ‘ClingerCohen Act of 1996’.’’.

PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996

110 STAT. 3009–394

(b) Section 5001 of Public Law 104–106 (110 Stat. 679; 40
U.S.C. 1401 note) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 5001. SHORT TITLE.

‘‘This division and division D may be cited as the ‘ClingerCohen Act of 1996’.’’.
(c) Any reference in any law, regulation, document, record,
or other paper of the United States to the Federal Acquisition
Reform Act of 1996 or to the Information Technology Management
Reform Act of 1996 shall be considered to be a reference to the
Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Treasury, Postal Service, and
General Government Appropriations Act, 1997’’.